1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to project management applications and more particularly relates to requirements decomposition and management.
2. Description of the Related Art
Large software development and other product development efforts typically have a set of high level requirements that the final product is expected to meet. Generally, the product is designed in a way that certain components or features specifically satisfy such requirements. If the requirements change, the requirements and design for the components and features must also change. Unfortunately, current project management systems typically require manually updating the requirements for all components and features individually when the top level requirements change.
Typically, a large portion of a project manager's time is spent tracking requirements changes, updating component requirements, updating schedules, and updating project budgets in response to high level requirement changes. Such tasks are typically tedious and error prone.
Priority tracking is also a common issue in project management. For example, completion of certain tasks may depend on the completion of certain other tasks. Consequently, the tasks that need to be completed before other tasks can be completed are typically higher priority, because the project's schedule is dependent upon the completion of those tasks. In such an environment, a change to a priority level of one task may affect the priority level of another task, and such priority changes typically require tracking.
Additionally, in engineering environments where complex systems are developed, a test engineer may work for a different department than the project manager. Consequently, a product test engineer may not have the most updated set of requirements for the product or its components and features. Therefore, the test engineer's test plan may not adequately test all of the required components and features, or the product may fail the test because some of the components or features have been deleted from the product requirements without the knowledge of the test engineer.